Pradhan-Shah meeting triggers speculation of fuel price cut

Amidst opposition protest over rising fuel prices, Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Monday met BJP President Amit Shah at the party office triggering speculation whether the government could consider steps to reduce the prices.

The meeting came in the wake of concerns in the party leadership over the rising prices of petrol and diesel and a dent in the image of government, though neither the party nor Pradhan's office came out with details of what transpired at the meeting.

The continuous surge in the petrol-diesel prices in the last fortnight has brought the opposition parties together attacking the government and demanding a cut in import duty on the crude and other steps to check the prices.

The Congress organised a nation-wide bandh on the issue on Monday and several opposition parties backed it.

Earlier, Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad called the hike in prices of petroleum products a "momentary difficulty" due to the international crisis and slammed the Congress and other opposition parties for the incidents of violence during the Bharat Bandh.

"The petroleum need of the global world today is under severe restrictions because of non-availability and limited supply. We are not trying to justify the price hike. The NDA government has been trying its best to contain inflation. It has succeeded on numerous fronts," he said.

--IANS

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